An image forming device for forming a developer (toner) image (hereinafter referred to as “toner image”) on a sheet-type recording medium (sheet) includes a fixing device. It has been well known that such a fixing device is provided with a heating roller and a pressure roller.
The heating roller includes a hollow tubular member made of metal that has an inner peripheral surface defining an internal space, and a heater that is disposed in the internal space. A halogen heater is widely used as the heater. The pressure roller is arranged juxtaposed with the heating roller so as to be pressed toward the heating roller. In such a fixing device, a sheet on which a toner image is formed is heated and pressed by the pressure roller and the heating roller to fix the toner image onto the sheet while conveyed in the sheet conveying direction.
In such a fixing device, in order to stably support the heater as well as stably supply electric power to the heater, the hollow tubular member is rotationally driven, while the heater is fixedly (non-rotatably) supported to a frame of the fixing device. Such a fixing device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-284622.
In the above described fixing device, the heater has a power supply terminal fixed to each of widthwise end portions thereof in a longitudinal direction, and a metal terminal plate fixed to the power supply terminal. The terminal plate is fixed to the frame of the fixing device and electrically connected to a cable for supplying electric power to the heater. In the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-284622, the terminal plate is fixed to the frame by soldering.
It has been proposed that, in order to reliably and easily connect the terminal plate to the cable electrically, the cable has a distal end provided with a connector (for example, a faston connector), and the connector is resiliently engaged with the terminal plate. Such a configuration is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2009-180839, 2009-229849, and 2009-295462.